Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke has opened a production plant for decaffeinated coffee beans in the Dong Nai province of South-East Vietnam, its first in Asia.

The new factory, which cost USD* 80 million, will decaffeinate green coffee beans for use as raw materials in Nestlé’s coffee factories around the world to meet rising consumer demand for decaffeinated coffee.

The factory will source Robusta green coffee beans exclusively from Vietnam and use a natural water-based process to extract caffeine from the beans, enabling the decaffeinated coffee beans to retain the same taste and aroma as caffeinated ones. The new technology will also allow the factory to have minimal environmental impact.

Nestlé CEO Paul Bulcke said: “This factory illustrates our deep trust in a country where we have had successful operations for over 20 years and where we are committed to continue to create shared value for its communities, its coffee farmers and its consumers.”

Nestlé currently purchases between 20 to 25 percent of Vietnam’s green coffee exports every year for the production of both caffeinated and decaffeinated Nescafé around the world.

The company’s latest investment in Vietnam is part of the Nescafé Plan, a global initiative by Nestlé that helps hundreds of thousands of coffee farmers across 14 countries improve their incomes and living and working conditions, and reduce their environmental footprint.